1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system of noise making devices for dispersing or scaring away birds or other wildlife from airfields and other areas. More specifically, the invention relates to system of gas cannons which are operated by a hand held transmitter and a central computer unit having control software.
2. Description of Prior Art
Considerable damage to aircraft has been caused by birds congregating around airfields and flying into the paths of the aircraft during takeoff and landing. Many systems and devices attempting to solve this problem by scaring the birds from the area around the airfield with noise making devices have been shown in the prior art. These include devices which intermittently produce high decibel explosions and systems which include several noise making devices that are remotely controlled by a central computer unit. However, none of the prior art discloses a system for dispersing birds from an airfield which includes computer activated radio controlled systems utilizing a plurality of gas cannons and a plurality of solar powered radio receivers that may be selectively operated by a hand held transmitter and a central computer unit having control software.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,102, issued Oct. 2, 1984 to Troy, et al., shows a bird dispersal system which preferably includes a plurality of gas cannons that may be selectively controlled by a remote unit via electric cable or wires. In an alternate embodiment, a radio transmission may be employed as a communications link between the gas cannons and the remote unit.
The bird dispersal system of Troy et al. differs from the present invention in that the system does not include a hand held transmitter unit that allows the system to be operated from anywhere on the airfield, solar powered gas cannons, or a computer having control software that allows the timing and duration of operation of any selected combination of gas cannons to be controlled as does the present invention
U.S. Pat. No. 2,920,600, issued Jan. 12, 1960 to Hori et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,197, issued Jun. 14, 1960 to Marotta each shows a device for producing high decibel explosions at regular intervals for the purpose of dispersing birds and other pests from the area in which the devices are placed. The devices of Hori et al. and Marotta feed a combustible gas from a pressurized tank into a combustion chamber where it is ignited by an electrical igniting element resulting in a high decibel explosion. While the devices of Hori et al and Marotta operate in a similar fashion to the gas cannons of the present invention, they are not mounted on rotating bases to allow the sound to be directed in a full 360.degree. circle and they are not part of a computer and radio controlled system like the present invention. Additionally, by producing the high decibel explosions at regular intervals, birds often become quickly accustomed to the explosions and the devices become ineffective. The present invention is actively operated to prevent this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,376, issued Oct. 2, 1962 to Bender, shows a device which produces a high decibel explosion at regular intervals by igniting a combustible gas in a combustion chamber that is mounted on a turntable. The device of Bender differs from the gas cannons of the present invention in that the combustible gas it uses is produced by calcium carbide and water rather than being fed from a pressurized gas tank, and in that its combustion chamber is caused to spin randomly to a different angular position by the force of each explosion unlike the present invention which uses gas cannons that are caused to rotate by a gas pressure powered chain and sprocket drive.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,304,358, issued Dec. 8, 1942 to Hennefer and U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,195, issued Jul. 29, 1975 to Finch, each shows a device for producing a combustible gas by the introduction of calcium carbide into water, feed the gas into a combustion chamber, and ignite it to produce a high decibel explosion. The devices of Hennefer and Finch differ from the present invention in that they do not utilize storage tanks of pressurized combustible gas and in that they are not part of a centrally controlled system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,826, issued Jul. 19, 1988 to Wall, shows another device for producing a high decibel explosion. The Wall device ignites a small exploding charge placed within a combustion chamber to produce the explosion rather than igniting a combustible gas fed into the chamber from a pressurized storage tank.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a bird dispersing system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.